Sustainable Design Criteria for Transbay Transit Center Extension Project

Location:
San Francisco, California

Author:
Aditi Raychoudhury, Architectural Energy Corporation, San Francisco, California.

Client:
HOK, San Francisco, California.
URS, San Francisco, California.

Architectural Rendering of Transbay Transit Center Development (Source: HOK, 2005

The scope of the Transbay Transit Center Extension project is anticipated to generate 125,000 trips a day through the center that will support a dynamic mixed-use neighborhood. The development plan provides a pedestrian environment with services, restaurants, entertainment and retail for use primarily by financial district workers, commuters and the local residents. In addition, a proposed tower will accommodate hotels and offices. Needless to say a project of this scale would have an enormous environmental impact and part of the process involved setting a sustainable design standard for the participating designs.

I developed a series of sustainable design goals, concepts, case studies and guidelines to create the sustainability framework and approach for the project. The sustainable design criteria were integrated with other general design concerns (such as revitalization, and providing pedestrian space).

I also developed a matrix-based scorecard to simplify the process of evaluating the sustainability commitment of the competing design proposals for the new Transbay Transit Center Building Project.

These guidelines and matrix were included in the Request For Proposal to promote innovation, communication and provide a working tool that would aid potential project designers in planning, design, and construction of new buildings and renovations with an appropriate level of attention to economic, ecological, and social concerns.

Oakland International Airport Terminal 2 Expansion and Renovation Project

Location:
Oakland, California.

Sustainable Design Assistance and Energy Analysis:
Aditi Raychoudhury, Architectural Energy Corporation, San Francisco, California.
Erik Kolderup, Architectural Energy Corporation, San Francisco, California.

Client:
Port of Oakland Authority, Oakland, California.

Oakland International Airport in Oakland, California, is one of the three airports serving the San Francisco Bay Area. As one of the nation’s fastest growing airports, a $1.4 billion dollar expansion project was launched to renovate and expand Terminal 2 to improve operation and add of five gates to Terminal 2. It also included the addition of a new mechanical building to house the additional services to serve the renovated and expanded Terminal 2.

Oakland Airport. Source: http://www.flyoakland.com/media_photos.shtml

I was involved with the analysis, design and recommendation of appropriate sustainable design strategies to lower operating energy costs, improve daylight and indoor air quality, and reduce carbon emissions. The resulting recommendations reduced the energy consumption by 36% relative to the proposed design before energy analysis and recommendations.

Some of the prominent sustainable design strategies that were recommended included:

-Daylight design with the use of appropriate glazing, light shelves, clerestories, and skylights to extend and maximize daylight distribution deep into the space

-Efficient lighting design and controls, including the use of daylight controls to control the level of electric lighting based on daylight availability

-Efficient air-conditioning strategies such as variable air flow regulated by air-conditioning demands, reduced energy fan operation through reduced pressure in the air supply and return system by using appropriate air duct and filter design, carbon dioxide sensors to regulate supply air flow based on number of occupants, and optimizing chiller size, and reducing chiller energy consumption with variable demand controlled water flow.